, 1887-12-18
EVA'S LESSON.

There were indications of a domestic
storm brewing as Richard Hayes entered
his house at Z o'clock one fine evening in
June; his little 3~-year-old Mary ran
eagerly to meet him, and baby Harry
stretched out his dimpled hands and
prattled a glad welcome, but his wife's
face showed that 40 pleasant greeting
awaited him from her.
80 you rave condescended to put in
an appearance at last!'' she said angrily.
l concluded you intended to stay all night
watching that silly baseball game and
guzzling beer"
Richards face flushed painfully at the
last taunt. so wholly undeserved. AL
though harsh words were becoming of
almost daily occurrence in his once
happy home, he felt them most keenly
now, as they were uttered in the presence
of an intimate friend, who had never be-
fore seen these too frequent outbursts of
anger.
well, come TO supper" Eva said un-
gr~aciously; ''You have kept us waiting
an hour, and I've no doubt Clarice is
half starved"
Clarice protested pleasantly, and Rich
arc made courteous excuses for his de-
lay, but Eva was too angry and impa-
tent to heed them. Her sharp words
and unkind ~reproaches marred all the
pleasure there might have been at her
neatly spread supper table.
At the earliest moment Richard es-
capped from the unpleasant home atmos-
phere and took his little ones out for n
walk.
To Clarice the whole scene had been
painful. Slight indications of growing
unhappiness between her friend and her
husband had been betrayed before, but
nothing like this. And it had been such
n pleasant home. She remembered how
proud Eva had been of her handsome,
even tempered husband, how ~devotedly
she had seemed to owe him in those early
days. She recalled the tender condolences
Eva had poured into her ears of his
patience, his constant kindness and gen.
erous devotion; but now, in her impa-
tience and i'll temper, everything was
wrong-petty faults and foibles, that
would have passed unnoticed in the old
days, were dwelt upon harshly and mag
niied into serious defects.
A merry, thoughtless girl, fond of
society and gay pleasures, Eva had taken
upon herself the duties of wife and
mother without a thought Of how weary
the burden might prove to be.
For two or three years she bore them
remarkably well; she was very proud OF
her handsome husband, her pleasant home
md her bright, sprightly little girl, whom
every ono admired and petted. But with
the coming of the second child her cares
increased, the household duties became
heavier, and her confinement to homo
nlAan- Chn w. -npIs-AI l@.. arrnlp
the nervous irritation, which made her no
cross and fault finding, was caused by
these things.
Confined to her close, warm rooms day
after day, with rarely any other society
than her little ones, who shared her irri-
liability, the troubles had increased
rapidly.
From an occasional impatient word, it
had grown to sharp, angry r~eproaches
and constant fault finding, until Richard
was beginning to seek pleasure in the
society of friends outside, only to be met
with still harsher words each time on his
return. Thoughtless and ignorant of the
laws Of health, it never occurred to either
that q ride or a walk each day, a few
hours in the open air, would do more to
cure all this trouble than would either
m or good resolutions.
The day of Clarice's visit everything
had gone wrong. 1t had been very warm,
and Eva had spent many hours in her
close, hot kitchen, over the ironing and
baking, while May, mischievous little
puss, had been unusually troublesome,
scarcely out of n piece of mischief be-
fore she was into another, keeping the
baby in constant fretfulness by her teas
ing, until Eva's patience was exhausted,
without the additional vexation of having
her husband take advantage OF a half
holiday to attend a baseball game, and
delay his return beyond the usual hour.
.'Oh, if girls only knew when they
were well off, they would never marry"
she said bitterly, as she seated herself at
the parlor window with her friend.
Just look at the coy life / led before
marriage; and now it is work, work,
from morning till night, no chance for
rest or recreation, no opportunity to go
out, and the children drive me nearly
wild, while my husband cares no more
than q block for all my troubles. Oh, 1
wish / were free once morel / would"
- she broke off abruptly, and leaned
out of the window. For heavens sake
she cried, excitedly, ''just look at that
child May, come out of tho road this
instant, or you'll get a good whipping.
Dick Hayes, are you crazy? There's that
child in the middle of the road, liable to
be run over at any moment. A smart
man you are to take care of the childrenl"
May wac in the street, running here
and there, kicking at some bits Of stone
and now and then stopping to dance,
whirling and twisting, jumping like q
ballet dancer, while her father, on the
walk near her, was pushing the baby car